March 21, 2005 by s.z.

All it Needs Is Some Magic Dolphins Oh, and if you want to read a column that out Peggy Noonans anything that Peggy herself could come up with, check out "What's Love Got to Do With It?" by Dr. Samuel L. Blumenfeld.  (Dr. Blumenfeld is not a medical doctor, as you will quickly deduce -- he presumably has a Ph.D. in homeschooling, or something like that.) Anyway, here are a few paragraphs of the very special WorldNetDaily commentary: Terri Schiavo is no burden on her husband. She is being cared for by her parents who love her. The word "love" has not been used by the court in this case. As far as the judge is concerned, love is not an issue or even a consideration. Terri's parents accept her disabled state. She smiles at them. She hears them. But she cannot speak to them. And as long as they are able to maintain and support their daughter in her disabled state, why should the court deny them this expression of their love? Is not sacrifice an important manifestation of love?  [...] Modern science has enabled Terri Schiavo to continue living even though she has been severely disabled. Does she want to die? She cannot tell us. But every time she looks into the eyes of her parents and smiles at them, she is saying, I want to continue to live, if for no other reason than to experience your love. Love conquers all. It is the bridge between Terri and her parents who deeply care for her. If she did not have that continuous infusion of love, which reaches her through her eyes, then she would probably want to die. Apparently, although she is disabled, Terri is not in pain. If she were in pain, her face would show it. Nor would her parents want her to live in a constant state of pain. It seems that Terri lives in a kind of painless euphoria that the love of her parents fuels and keeps alive. Without that love she would probably die for the lack of it. [...] Terri's parents love her, even though they know that Terri is a burden. And Terri's love for them is not disputed by anyone, including her husband or the doctors so eager to pull her feeding tube. As long as Terri can love, is that not a recognition that she is very much alive, much more alive than those who cannot love? While she may not be more alive that those who cannot love, Terri is arguably no more vacant that those who will not think.  6:50:41 AM

The Marketing of Terri Schiavo Last week I received an email appeal from NewsMax on behalf of Terri Schiavo.  (Because I once participated in a NewsMax poll, I am on their mailing list, which they rent out to various other groups -- so I regularly get such appeals.)  This one was actually from an outfit called "RightMarch," and it asked me to send them money so they could take out print and radio ads which would urge people to demand that their Congressmen and Senators supported  Rep. Weldon's proposed law "which would give Terri Schindler-Schiavo and others in similar situations the same constitutional protection of due process as death row inmates now receive." But that was last week.  Here's part of RightMarch's latest pitch, which appears at NewMax in the format of a new story, although I think it should be counted as a paid advertisement:  Message from Terri's father: "Our family has asked Randall Terry and his staff to once again coordinate the efforts to rescue Terri from the clutches of death by judicial homicide. We ask you to help my daughter, Terri, by following Randall's lead, and cooperating with and supporting the efforts we have asked him to undertake. We thank you with all our hearts for your concern for our daughter, and for your help in trying to save her." -- Bob Schindler, Father of Terri Schiavo You may recall Randall Terry, the former head of "Operation Rescue" who was arrested dozens of times for trespassing (and other crimes) as he engaged in "civil disobedience" at abortion clinics.  He was also successfully sued for harassing women at the clinics, causing him to declare bankruptcy when the plaintiffs tried to collect.  So, I'm not sure he's really the kind or person whose lead you should follow, despite what Mr. Schindler has asked. But on to the "urgent message" from Terry and his allies: Dear Friend, It is unthinkable... like some dark scenario in a horror movie... but true. An innocent, disabled woman is now being starved to death. Her food and water were suspended on Friday afternoon. [...] Even if Congress does pass a bill and President Bush signs it, it will only put Terri's case into Federal jurisdiction. Our struggle to save Terri will begin anew. If you can help us keep up the fight, Just Go Here Now. At the minute we are sending this e-mail to you, Terri is starving to death. [...] Give as generous a gift as you can in this historic battle to save Terri's life. We have to pay for email campaigns, meeting rooms, for a bus, for food, press releases, and a host of other items needed to create a firestorm of protest and outrage on Terri's behalf. The buses alone are $1000 each for each day. [...] Friend, every action we can take on Terri's behalf is worth the effort. A nation is judged by how it treats its weakest and most defenseless members. Each of us needs to love Terri, as we love ourselves. That means we do all we can to save her life. [...] Sincerely, Randall Terry, President Society for Truth and Justice William Greene, President RightMarch.com If we do "go there now," we learn that RightMarch, which was formed in March 2003 in order to counter MoveOn.org's "attacks on President Bush and his conservative policies," is a "conservative organization dedicated to giving hundreds of thousands of hardworking, patriotic Americans across the country a strong collective voice in the political process."  The group does this by placing ads;  providing email forms and online petitions that people can send to elected officials;  and by soliciting funds.  They are a 501 organization, so "your contribution is NOT tax-deductible."  RightMarch is strictly an online group which doesn't have any buses or rented meeting rooms -- but since Randall Terry's Society for Truth and Justice advises that it has "chartered a bus to take people from the hospice in Pinellas Park, FL to Tallahassee to hold a candlelight vigil at the capitol," and that they have meetings planned in the Tallahassee Holiday Inn, I guess he gets a big chunk of the money.  So, why isn't he doing his own fundraising? Well, maybe the Schindlers thought that people might remember the June 2003 World magazine report about his fundraising actitivies.  Here's the Christianity Today recap of the story: In other prolife news, World magazine reports on the questionable fundraising of Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry. "The purveyors of abortion on demand have stripped Randall Terry of everything he owned," Terry's website says. "The home was sold, and Randall's equity and assetts were given to pro-abortion activists. Bank accounts were seized ... even his frequent flyer miles were taken by court order ... Please give as generously as you can to restore what the enemy took." The problem, reports World's Lynn Vincent, is that "Mr. Terry is set to close on a new $432,000 home near St. Augustine, Fla., in South Ponte Vedra Beach." Terry explains to the magazine that he needs a home where "we could entertain people of stature, people of importance." The World story is no longer available online, but there is a copy of it at FreeRepublic, and it makes interesting reading.  The first interesting tidbit is that World rented their mailing list to the Terry Family Trust solicitation, so when the first Mrs. Terry reported that she thought that donors were being misled, World felt compelled to do an investigation.  And here's another interesting part: Mr. Terry's critics also say many donors who receive the fundraising letters are likely to assume that the proceeds of the Terry Family Trust benefit Mr. Terry's four oldest children, along with Cindy Terry, his wife of 19 years. Instead, the Terry Family Trust is to help Mr. Terry get back into ministry and to benefit his infant son and his second wife, the former Andrea Kollmorgan. She was 22 and served as Mr. Terry's personal assistant during his failed 1998 New York congressional campaign. In August 1999, Mr. Terry left Cindy Terry, and obtained a divorce in November 2000. He married Miss Kollmorgan seven months later. Mr. Terry told WORLD that he wanted a home where his family will be safe and where "we could entertain people of stature, people of importance. I have a lot of important people that come through my home. And I will have more important people come through my home." [...] To secure the purchase, they needed $20,000 by April 30, 2002. Mr. Terry began calling potential donors, offering in exchange for cash gifts quantities of a country music CD he had recorded in Nashville. His plan worked. By April 30, "We had $20,017.... We made the deposit." But earlier that same month, Mr. Terry had submitted an affidavit to a New York State family court on his financial condition. The court had ordered him to account for his finances in response to a petition Cindy Terry had filed earlier, saying that Mr. Terry was not paying a fair share of child support. In the affidavit, Mr. Terry wrote, "The past two years have been difficult financially for me.... I am three months behind in my rent, in addition to my numerous other debts. Since June, in order to pay necessities, we have been selling many items...." So, Terry was asking for donations from his fellow Christians so he could buy a ritzy new house for the new wife and the new kid, while not paying his fair share of child support for the old kids.  That takes gall. As you may recall, Terry is the man who said the following about Michael Schiavo: The day is past for any of us to pretend that he is a decent man. This guy is a monster. He is not a good person. He has been living with another woman for how many years? He has two children by her. Why doesn't he just divorce Terri, give her to Mom and Dad and go on with his life? Hey, Terry divorced HIS first wife and just got on with his life with his new, young wife, so he knows how easy it is to do. And he also knows how easy it is to forget the commitments one has made to loved ones, as shown not only by his failure to pay his fair share of child support, but also in his article designed to pre-empt the one his son Jamiel had written for Out magazine.  In that piece Terry pretty much washed his hands of Jamiel, claiming that Jamiel was a lazy, dishonest, screwed-up, deadbeat who had betrayed Terry, and stating that Jamiel is no longer welcome at Terry's home not because he's gay, but so that he won't ruin the new kids. So, Terry knows what it's like to pretend to be a good man.  Yeah, he's definitely the guy I would pick to be a spokesman for my family.  But here's more from Terry about Mr. Schiavo, from a flyer prepared by the Society for Truth and Justice: Michael Schiavo has lived with another woman for years, and has 2 children by her. He has declared that he intends to marry her after Terri is dead. So why doesn't he just get a divorce, and let the parents have their daughter? That is a troubling question. Some assert it is because he wants what is left of the money. Others believe that he put her in this condition, and he wants all evidence of abuse buried. Still others guess it is a grudge match with Terri's father.   Why would Randall Terry say such nasty things about somebody he doesn't know?  Some assert that it is because he craves being in the limelight, and hopes the attention will help to get his "career" as a high-profile wingnut back on track.  Others believe that he feels guilt about his own conduct towards his first wife and children, and seeks to rid himself of the shame by accusing Schiavo.  Still others guess it is so he can solicit funds from the same kind of people who donated to his fund to buy a new house when he couched that as a way to get back at Planned Parenthood. I guess we'll never know.  So, let's get back to RightMarch, the other group Mr. Schindler has apparently endorsed. RightMarch is led by "long-time conservative activists William Greene and Phil Sheldon."   Here's some info about Greene from Politics Online: Greene is also president of Strategic Internet Campaign Management, Inc. (SICM.com - pronounced “sick ‘em”), an online political consulting firm that enables organizations and candidates to harness the power of the Internet for fundraising and grassroots activism; in 2004, Greene’s firm was instrumental in raising nearly half a million dollars online in less than three months for the upstart U.S. Senate candidacy of Dr. Alan Keyes in Illinois. Hey, anybody whoi can raise half a million dollars for a loser like Alan Keyes is pretty good at harnassing the internets all right!  Anyway, apparently Greene learned his tricks from "political direct mail legend Richard A. Viguerie," when Greene was a VP at Viguerie's Conservative HQ. com.  Greene's brags at the SICM site that SICM's "response rates for corporate grassroots activism exceed both direct mail and telemarketing."  And he advises that for "nonprofits and candidates that qualify," he will conduct "no-risk" e-mail fundraising campaigns that guarantee a return on your investment.  Do you think that's the deal that Terri Schiavo's dad got?   BTW, here's one of SICM's success stories: Goal: To raise funds online for a large conservative Christian organization, and to build a database of names, postal addresses and opt-in email addresses of evangelical Christians on the Internet for future solicitations.  Solution: Through emailings to opt-in email lists and revenue-sharing partnerships with evangelical and conservative news websites, "translated" successful direct mail packages to the Internet, including appeals like "Help Save the Boy Scouts,", "Help Protect Our Troops' Religious Liberties Overseas," "Stop Anti-Christian Bigotry," and "Get Out the Christian Vote."  Results: Over the months of testing and rolling out online campaigns for the organization, the Internet appeals grossed over $20,000 and brought in over 1,000 new postal addresses and opt-in email addresses. So, by entering into "revenue-sharing partnerships" with "conservative and evangelical news websites" (to presumably include NewsMax), and then using those websites mailing lists to send emails that push several hot buttons, SICM helped this "conservative Christian group" (which, after doing a Google search of the above hot buttons, I am pretty sure is the Traditional Values Coalition) collect over $20,000 and over 1000 new addresses of evangelical Christians for future appeals.  Donate or sign a petition for the "Save Terri" campaign at RightMarch and I bet you'll be hearing from SICM's other clients in the future too. Oh, and those current clients reportedly include NewsMax and RightMarch.  So, what an incestuous little circle we have here! But there's more!  The other guy behind RightMarch, Phil Sheldon, is the son of Rev. Louis Sheldon, founder of the Traditional Values Coalition.  Per a San Francisco Chronicle story, Phil has worked with the Traditional Values Coalition for much of his adult life, but also does political consulting.  In 2002, he was paid $30,000 to coordinate the email campaign of Republican businessman (and CA candidate for governor) Bill Simon.  (But after taking heat for hiring someone with Sheldon's extreme anti-abortion and anti-gay rights views, Simon's camp said that they had hired Sheldon basically just to rent his email addresses).  Sheldon also runs a web site, ConservativePetitions.com.   ConservativePetitions.com harnesses Internet technology to help conservative Americans, like you, let those in charge know what we think. Not only is it full of news and information about crucial issues, this site enables you to take action through petitions that voice our concerns to the people who need to hear it -- all in one convenient location. So, it's just another site that sends petitions and collects email addresses for fundraising purposes.  Here's one of its current campaigns: TWO-PETITION EFFORTRight the wrong now being done to Terri Schiavo and fix judicial system The execution has begun! Without 11th-hour help Terri Schindler-Schiavo is now being starved to death -- thanks to yet another outrage by an activist judge. You can not only help right the wrong being done to Terri, but fix the system that allows it. Act now while there's still time! Here's where to demand Gov. Jeb Bush and the Florida legislature act immediately to void the court's unconstitutional violation of Terri's unalienable right to life. Here's where to urge President George W. Bush to nominate only U.S. Supreme Court justices who will faithfully interpret the Constitution as written in order to repair our nation's last line of defense against judicial tyranny. So, sign these petitions today, so that you can add to Phil Sheldon's email addresses, which he rents out for thousands of dollars (but he's still looking for donations, because those online petitions cost money, you know).  Maybe I'm just cynical, but I suspect that if you sign a petition at RightMarch, both Phil Sheldon and William Greene will make use of your information for their paid consulting endeavors.  And while Randall Terry probably won't be able to use your donation to pay for his house, he will use it to get his name in the papers and/or his face in front of the TV cameras. So, I think that you would better serve the cause of life by using your funds to support a program offering medical care to poor kids, or food to the homeless or something like that.  After all, nothing can help Terri now, since the part of her brain that made her Terri died a long time ago.  And helping Randall Terry, William Greene, and Phil Sheldon just doesn't sound like that virtuous of a way to spend your money. 4:23:46 AM

March 20, 2005 by s.z.

Terri is Dying, and Yet Newt Gingrich is Allowed to Live FoxNews.com  tells us about their special Palm Sunday coverage: Pope John Paul II: Pope of the People Learn about Pope John Paul II's vital and popular leadership at a critical moment in history. Newt Gingrich hosts this special look at the pontiff's spiritual and political impact on our world.   Yes, you read that right: serial adulterer/dumper of sick wives/hypocrite Newt Gingrich will host a special which looks at the pontiff's spiritual impact.   BTW, if I'm ever Pope, I will sue Fox News if they ever try to use me as a prop in Newt Gingrich's comeback plan.  (Geez, how low do you have to sink to use a frail, sick old man for political purposes?)   Well, don't answer yet, because we have more truly despicable Fox News coverage to talk about!   I was watching Fox this afternoon (the all Terri Schiavo/ "little Jessica Lunsford"/ Michael Jackson station).  Their brunette bimbo correspondent in Florida had an "exclusive inverview" with Terri Schiavo's parents.  The corresondent noted that Terri has been without food or water for nearly two days, and then asked the parents if they are concerned that Terri could be in danger of dying of starvation even as they spoke (you know, so that Fox could push their coverage of this "life or death" situation in which seconds matter, and could make hay about how any attempt to debate "Terri's bill" could kill an innocent woman).  Terri's mother said no, that Terri seemed fine.  Terri's father said that he was kind of worried, because something could happen maybe, and he wants to get this thing resolved.  The bimbo signs off, saying something like "Terri's parents are fearful about how her days without food and water are affecting her, and are praying for a miracle to spare her life."  A hour or so later, the blonde bimbo goes back to this same correspondent, who is now reporting that Terri's parents are sick with anxiety about their daughter, whose life is in immediate danger unless Congress acts quickly.  Stay tuned for more thrilling life-or-death action!    Oh, and everyone should keep in mind that George Bush interrupted his planned week-long Easter vacation to fly back to Washington to sign this bill that effects one woman's life -- because that's just the kind of concerned, caring,  micro-managing President he is.  The President who remained on vacation at his ranch after being presented with a PDB entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike Within U.S." was, as we all recall, Bill Clinton.    6:06:57 PM

"I don't have a whole lot of respect for a man that has treated this woman in this way," he said. "What kind of man is he?" That quote, of course, is Tom DeLay talking about Michael Schiavo.   Here's is a photo of Houston resident Wanda Hudson.  Tom didn't spearhead any efforts to attempt to keep her son's life support from being removed against her wishes.  But I guess it would be wrong to ask what kind of a man Tom DeLay is. Julia (who has been blogging up a storm over at Sisyphus Shrugged) refers us to  this post over at "Long Story, Short Pier" which suggests a method that you can use to ask Tom DeLay questions, such as why his commitment to the sanctity of life doesn't apply to the lives of poor black children. Sun Hudson P.S.  My dream girl Kathryn Jean writes: ROY BLUNT (DA WHIP) [K. J. Lopez ] Gives a crash course to Saturday TV watchers who aren’t getting it from the media: “This is not someone who has had extraordinary measures going on to keep them alive.” She’s not on life support. We’re talking food and water… Posted at 03:38 PM I would like to refer K.J. and Roy to this 2001 AMA "ethics" item about Nancy Cruzon, whose cerbebral cortex was destroyed due to lack of oxygen, and who was kept alive for 7 years by a feeding tube.  Nancy, in her persistent vegetative state (PVS) could no longer experience anything of the world around her, except perhaps pain. Determined to see their daughter at peace, her parents undertook a prolonged legal struggle that led to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled that hydration and nutrition were life-prolonging treatments that a patient could refuse (and which could be terminated in the cases of incompetent persons who had expressed clear preferences that they would not want to be kept alive without higher brain functions). So, while Terri isn't on a ventilator, she IS receiving life-prolonging medical treatment, per the Supreme Court. 2:13:38 AM

March 19, 2005 by s.z.

A Sign... Let me tell you about the dream I had a few nights ago.  I had just moved into a new apartment in an old house that had been divided into smaller units.  It turned out that my neighbor was the NRO's Kathryn Jean Lopez.  She seemed eager to be my friend, and invited me over for coffee.  However, while I was there, I discovered that she was keeping Jonah Goldberg prisoner in the attic.  The pale, soft Jonah plaintively asked for my help, which embarrassed me (I hate it when couples try to involve you in their relationship problems).  So, I told him that I really didn't want to get involved.     I woke up feeling guilty about my refusal to aid a fellow creature in need, and in my half-conscious state I resolved to contact the authorities and tell them about Jonah's plight.   Anyway, I think it means that I have been blogging too much (because normal people do NOT dream about minor NRO personalities).  So, I'm taking the rest of the night off. 1:18:58 AM

Swank O' the Day From HARVARD REMAINS AS NARROW-MINDED AS EVER: POOR PRESIDENT LARRY ... (emphesis in the original): Now since the Harvard President presented his conclusions regarding females and their intelligent whatevers, the facts are that the man has been clawed through to the bone. He has been tarred and feathered, not yet run out of town. But the latter remains to be seen. The man is an obvious fool, a brain-jerk, social clod and total embarrassment to Harvard present-tense as well as all past tenses. In other words, how did Harvard ever come upon such a nitwit for a President? The broadminded truth is this: the man should be entitled to his opinion in open, free dialogue, not badgered a twit, but encouraged to say whatever under heaven he wants to say. After all, he's at Harvard!! HE'S AT HARVARD. I just love the term "brain-jerk," and plan to use it on all possible occasions -- especially when talking about men who speak of  "females and their intelligent whatevers."  And the Pastor is right: Summers should not be badgered a twit, because he's at Harvard, man, HARVARD!  I mean, gee, if we let brain-jerks be badgered a twits at Harvard, what chance does poor Ben Shapiro stand? 1:03:40 AM

Using Intelligent Design to Defeat Liberalism I just got around to reading this Wash Post article about how "Policymakers in 19 states are weighing proposals that question the science of evolution," and are considering measures that would require that "intelligent design" be taught in public schools. Speaking of Rick Santorum . . . Some evolution opponents are trying to use Bush's No Child Left Behind law, saying it creates an opening for states to set new teaching standards. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.), a Christian who draws on Discovery Institute material, drafted language accompanying the law that said students should be exposed to "the full range of scientific views that exist." "Anyone who expresses anything other than the dominant worldview is shunned and booted from the academy," Santorum said in an interview. "My reading of the science is there's a legitimate debate. My feeling is let the debate be had." What academy is booting Rick?  Can we help in the booting?  And Rick has a point: just because someone believes that rain is caused by the fairies crying, it doesn't mean they shouldn't be part of the science academy.  I mean, if you can't prove that fairies don't exist, then their view is as legitimate as anybody else's. But anyway, this is the part that particularly caught my attention: A prominent effort is underway in Kansas, where the state Board of Education intends to revise teaching standards. That would be progress, Southern Baptist minister Terry Fox said, because "most people in Kansas don't think we came from monkeys." [...] Fox -- pastor of the largest Southern Baptist church in the Midwest, drawing 6,000 worshipers a week to his Wichita church -- said the compromise is an important tactic. "The strategy this time is not to go for the whole enchilada. We're trying to be a little more subtle," he said. To fundamentalist Christians, Fox said, the fight to teach God's role in creation is becoming the essential front in America's culture war. The issue is on the agenda at every meeting of pastors he attends. If evolution's boosters can be forced to back down, he said, the Christian right's agenda will advance. "If you believe God created that baby, it makes it a whole lot harder to get rid of that baby," Fox said. "If you can cause enough doubt on evolution, liberalism will die." And once you get rid of the scientific method, we can all live happily in the Dark Ages again!  You didn't see many liberals there, did you?  12:55:41 AM

George Bush Using Tax Money to Give Your Children the Gay! From a Wash Post article about how abstinence pledges don't really do much about reducing STDs, because the kids who sign them seem to have less knowledge about sex, and when they do end up having sex, they engage in risky practices and don't use condoms In terms of high-risk behavior, the raw numbers were small, but the gap was statistically significant, Bearman said. Just 2 percent of youth who never took a pledge said they had had anal or oral sex but not intercourse, compared with 13 percent of "consistent pledgers." As we know, anal and oral sex are considered "sodomy."  And, as Rick Santorum said, sodomy is just like incest, adultery, and man-on-dog sex, in that they destroy the fabric of society.  So, when kids engage in these offensive practices in order to preserve their "technical virginity," not only can they contract STDs (a fact of which they apparently are unaware), but they also are going to hell. President Bush has requested $206 million in federal funding for abstinence-only programs this year. Yes, he wants to use YOUR money to promote polices that will encourage YOUR KIDS to have sex with pets.  Clearly, President Bush is one of those homosexualists about whom you've been warned. 12:36:28 AM

March 18, 2005 by s.z.

The Face of the Religious Right 

Okay, my post at the new, improved American Street is up, but I'm going to cross-post it here, because it took me quite a while to research it, and beside, if anybody gets sued for it, I want to make sure that Donald Wildmon's group has to draw up legal papers naming "World O'Crap" in an action.

 

So, with no further ado, here's

  Not Crazy, But Not Exactly Sane

I was websurfing at AgapePress, when my curiosity was piqued by this story about an anti-abortion, anti-homosexual crusader named Michael Marcavage who lost a suit against Temple University. It seems that the jury thought that the school did the right thing in having him sent to a mental hospital for a psych eval.

An attorney for Michael Marcavage says he expects an appeals court to overturn a jury verdict that Temple University did nothing wrong when it tried to have the Christian student committed to a mental hospital several years ago.

So, basically the jury thought that Michael looked crazy enough that the university was within its rights to try and commit him. Not usually the kind of thing that Agape Press tells us about.

But here's some more info:

Marcavage was a student at Temple in 1999 when the school hosted the controversial play Corpus Christi, a production that portrays Jesus Christ and His disciples as homosexuals. University officials tried to have Marcavage, a junior at the time, involuntarily committed over his opposition to the play. Marcavage sued the school, claiming his constitutional rights were violated.

On Wednesday (March 16), a jury in Philadelphia ruled against Marcavage. One of his attorneys, Steve Crampton with the American Family Association's Center for Law & Policy, claims evidence favorable toward his client was "systematically excluded" by the judge overseeing the trial.

So, there was evidence that was unfavorable to Crampton's client, and it was enough to convince a jury. It seems that the case wasn't just about the university committing him to a looney bin because he stood up for Jesus and opposed a blasphemous play, despite what AgapePress has been reporting for the past several years (and like his lawyer still claims).

The case, Compton says, highlights a spiritual battle.

"Michael Marcavage set out to tell the truth to Temple University students and friends about Jesus Christ because [the school] was trying to portray Jesus Christ as a homosexual, as the "King of Queers," the attorney explains. "And so underlying this entire action is this spiritual battle between the truth -- who is Christ -- and those whose father is the father of lies."

Yes, as usual, this court case was a spiritual battle between Jesus and the Devil.

Anyway, Michael intrigued me enough that I did some research. And it turns out that he is a very interesting guy. He has appeared on TV shows to include °Hannity and Colmes," "The O'Reilly Factor," "Good Morning America," as well as many talk radio programs. He has also gotten quite a bit of ink from the papers (and not just WorldNetDaily and Agape Press) as a result of his antics, most famously for being the ringleader of the "Philadelphia Four" (or "Philadelphia 11." or "Philadelphia 5," depending on how many were being charged that day) who disrupted Phillie's Outfest last October. And he's only 25-year's old!

So, let's learn some more about Michael Marcavage.

He grew up in a blue-collar town near Scranton. His mother died when he was 3, an event that either "propelled" him "to search for meaning" in his life, or really screwed him up. His father raised Michael and his brother Catholic, but Michael says that he never knew God in that religion. He now believes that Catholics are damned unless they are born again, and isn't sure if his Catholic mother is in heaven or hell, telling the Philly Inquirer, "I never met her." (Which is kind of an odd thing to say, since she was his mother for three years, so you'd think that they would have at least been introduced.)

Michael says he became a Christian after reading the Bible at age 16. This contributed to some estrangement from his father and brother, because now they are separated from him by a "spiritual division."

While in high school, Michael was also involved in "theater, Boy Scouts and community service."

As a senior he created such a stir when a teacher wanted to show the groundbreaking episode of the sitcom Ellen, in which the main character says she is a lesbian, that the principal was quoted in the local paper calling him a "religious zealot."

[Okay, we're not going to say that Michael just shouts "repressed homosexual," but we will certainly think it.]

After high school, Michael headed off to Temple University, where, per him, he made the Dean's List, and was even an intern to the Clinton White House in 1998, when he was 18 or so. (But he, apparently, was one of the GOOD interns who didn't wear thong underwear.)

And then in 1999, we come to his famous commitment to the mental institution.

It all started when he heard that the school's theatre department was going to produce a play which portrayed Jesus as gay. Michael was majoring in theater at the time, and so was especially concerned.

Per the Delco DailyTimes, Michael felt he had to stop this vile production, to protect Jesus' good name.

"I wanted to stop this twisted tale from reaching the stage," Marcavage said.

The play is obscene and profane, according to Marcavage.

"Those types of speech are not protected (under the First Amendment)."

So, Michael put up flyers denouncing the play all over campus. And when he couldn't get it banned, he decided to launch his own counter-production, full of gospel songs and preaching against homosexuality from a bullhorn and stuff.

But when he was told that the college wouldn't build an outdoor stage for him to use for his show, he got really upset, cried, and locked himself in the bathroom (he claims he went there to pray). The university had a locksmith open the door, and when Michael finally emerged, he was distraught, shakey, and "staggering." The university Vice President thought Michael might have been suicidal (and could have taken something while in the rest room); so, after consulting with the campus psychologist, he called the ambulance and requested that Michael be taken to the mental hospital for an evaluation. The hospital personnel found that Michael wasn't a danger to himself or others, and he was released within a couple of hours.

And then, in 2000, Michael's career really took off, because that's when he hooked up with Don Wildmon's American Family Association Center for Law and Policy, and sued Temple University for violating his First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendment Rights in connection with his ordeal at the mental institution.

However, as we learned previously, the jury found in favor of the university. Michael's lawyer, Steve Crampton, claims it was because the judge (a Temple alumnus) wouldn't let Crampton present evidence favorable to Michael's case, didn't give the jury the right instructions, and generally took the side of Satan.

Crampton previously told Agape Press that Temple University was "basically fabricating testimony."  So, it really WAS a battle between Jesus and Satan.

Crampton says that he is certain that he will be granted an appeal, and expects the appeals court to overturn the jury's verdict. We'll see, I guess, but I wouldn't bet any money on it.

But Michael didn't just sit around twiddling his thumbs during the four years it took the case to be heard.

No, after graduating from Temple in 2001 with a degree in broadcast journalism, he started his own ministry, which basically involves traveling around the country, being obnoxious, getting arrested, and suing.

Mike Tidmus blog has a good summary of Michael's career, which includes such feats as: getting arrested for failing to obey a sheriff's orders while protesting San Francisco's granting of same-sex marriage licenses; getting arrested for trying to interfere with workers as they covered a Ten Commandments in Pennsylvania; picketing a private residence visited by Sen. John Kerry and asking a child there how many abortions she'd had; and traveling to D.C. to protest President Bush's inauguration.

[Prior to the election Michael urged voters not to support Bush, whom Michael thinks is too liberal because he appointed a gay ambassador ("There are people representing the U.S. in Romania sodomizing each other"), and hasn't overturned Roe V. Wade yet.]

Plus, there was that arrest at Outfest, which Michael says was a case of the government suppressing his First Amendment rights (he's a big believer in the First Amendment, except in cases that involve plays which portray Jesus as a homosexual).

However, the police said that Michael was yelling "Sodomists repent. You're going to hell," through a bullhorn, and generally disrupting the day's events -- and when he wouldn't obey their orders, he and his associates were hauled in.

The Christian Right made a big deal about how  "The Philly Four" could have gone to jail for 42 years for merely sharing the Bible with unbelievers -- and although there was no chance of that actually happening, it's what got Michael on "Hannity & Colmes," et. al. But the charges were dismissed, leaving Michael free to share his message with other eager listeners.

And what does Michael believe?

Well, in a literal interpretation of the Bible (just not the parts about Jesus and "love thy neighbor"and "judge no lest ye be judged" and stuff). His web site, Repent America, says:

As Christians, we know that there is a literal hell and a lake of fire where the unsaved will burn for all eternity, therefore, we act upon this Truth without reservation and GO OUT into the streets and communities of America declaring the WORD OF GOD and proclaiming the GOOD NEWS.

The GOOD NEWS is "You're going to hell, sinners" -- and if you're gay, the government should send you there.

Here's what he told the Philly City Paper:

"According to the Scriptures, it's the government's job to enforce God's law and to uphold his law, and the Bible talks about how, I don't want to really get into this  -- it'll make me sound like I'm crazy -- but it does talk about how [homosexuals] are to be put to death. The wages of sin is death. But I want to make [it] clear that I'm not advocating the [independent] killing of homosexuals ... I'm saying that the government's duty is to uphold God's law. ... I know that's harsh, but we have all broken the law, God's law, and we need to be held accountable."

See, he's not advocating the independent killing of homosexuals, he's just saying that the government should do it.

Here's more of his creed from his web site:

We must go out to where the sinners are. We must go to those who would never come into our churches--to the atheists, to the religious, to the self-righteous, to the God-hating and win their souls to Christ.

Does anybody actually come to Christ after getting shouted at through a bull horn? Well, Michael says that he got a letter from a woman who found comfort from the words he delivered in the parking lot of a strip club. She said that her boyfriend had had an affair with a stripper there, and apparently knowing he was going to hell made her feel better.

But more than bringing souls to Christ or comforting angry girlfriends, Michael seems to be about attracting attention -- and since denouncing homosexuality and abortion (and getting arrested for creating disturbances and failing to obey police orders), gets him press coverage and admiration from the right wing Christian fringe, he continues to do it.

And it may help him make a comfortable living too.

Here's what Kevin Lee, an "openly gay city councilman" who has had many run-ins with Michael, told the City Paper.

To Lee, Marcavage is a huckster whose "whole goal in life is to get in front of the media and get arrested." Lee suggests that Marcavage is a paid agent of the American Family Association, a conservative Christian organization, which pays him to get in legal trouble so that the AFA can raise money to defend him. Marcavage and Brian Fahling of the AFA both say this is false, though the organization does provide the street preacher with free legal counsel. (When you visit the AFA's Web site, the "Philadelphia Four" are plastered all over the place, and if you click on a link to donate for the cause, you are led directly to a nonspecific AFA donation page. Fahling says the AFA does use cases like Marcavage's for fund raising).

Michael runs his ministry from his "spacious" house, which is furnished with "a big screen TV, a DVD player, two computers and an original Nintendo."  He has said that he supports himself from "real estate investments." in that he receives income from three rental properties that he owns. Not bad for a 25-year-old!

He's also said that his group of about a dozen core members gets funding "largely from private donors."  So, who knows where the money comes from?

But here's more from the City Paper:

He lives alone in this dimly lit house. It serves as his shelter, place of worship and workplace. Marcavage's full-time job is running Repent America (his income, he says, comes from "donations from individuals and churches"). He does not belong to a Church, but he attends "fellowships" with other Christians approximately three times a week. He does not date.

"I am a virgin," he says after some deliberation. "I'm not ashamed of that. .... Paul said it was better to be alone."

Yes, it's better to be alone than to be with an icky, old girl.

And although Michael is really, really against homosexuality, he did put up his house as collateral to secure the bail of Rev. Craig Stephen White, who was arrested for luring a 14-year-old boy into a van and trying to coerece the boy into giving him oral sex.

White was convicted of the charges last year, and was sentenced to four to 10 years in state prison.

Here's some interesting info from last March:

When [D.A. Kim] Callahan said that an Internet Web site was offering a monetary reward for information on people involved in the case, a man in the gallery interrupted the proceedings.

The man, later identified as Michael Marcavage, said, "That's not true. That's my Web site. She's lying."

Marcavage, of Lansdowne, put up his home as collateral for White's $20,000 bail and served as a character witness during the trial.

Sheriff's deputies removed him from the courtroom.

"There's no proof whatsoever that the defendant had anything to do with this (the Web site)," [defense attorney] Donatoni said. "This lunatic ... bursting out, should have nothing to do with the sentencing."

Hey, watch who you're calling a lunatic, counselor, or Michael and the American Family Law Center will sue you!

Anyway, the judge indicated that there wasn't any real proof that the defendant was personally involved with the web site (which offered a $5,000 reward for information about the victim and members of the Chester County District Attorney's Child Sex Abuse Unit), so it wasn't made a part of the trial . And apparently Michael was never arrested for his connection with it either.

Here's more :

White preached against homosexuality and atheists, using a bullhorn to rile at students and faculty about "fornicators," "whores" and "sodomites."

Assistant District Attorney Kimberly A. Callahan called White a threat to society. "I'm relieved the jury believed the victim and understood the seriousness of the case," she said.

White supporter Michael A. Marcavage called the verdict "an outrageous travesty" and said the community should be alarmed. "Citizens should be concerned about how a man can be tried and convicted on the testimony of a 14-year-old," he said.

So, in Michael's world, the government should put homosexuals to death, but it shouldn't believe 14-year-olds who accuse men of soliciting gay sex from them.

Anyway, expect to hear more about Michael Marcavage over the days and years to come -- because if he isn't involuntarily committed, he has a bright future ahead of him as the new Roy Moore, the latest Fred Phelps, and a baby-faced Christian martyr.

9:01:43 AM 

March 17, 2005 by s.z.

Who Said It?   St. Patricks Day Edition First, we will reveal our Mystery Guests from last time:  1.  Ari Fleischer.   (Roger Ailes brings us the news about how President Bush has called on Hezbollah to disarm Ari, who has apparently gone nuts and became one of those dangerous, gun-wielding loners since leaving the White House. 2.  Karen Hughes  3.  Bill O'Reilly 4.  Condi Rice 5.  Mel Gibson While Dave named them all, we think that steroids were involved.  Therefore, while we hold Congressional hearings on the matter, we will give a point to everybody. So, a point to Dave, Clif, teh l4m3, Singularity, Ted,  Annti, john b, Goseph Gerbils, and Sandals.  Oh, and a kidney to Thomas Sowell.  Our winners can save up their points and use them for such fun prizes as "Punchy O' Reilly" pens, available from Dollar Days: Punchy O' Reilly pen lights up when you write. Buttons on back to control boxing arms. Black ink. May the luck of the Irish be yours today.       Now, name the pundits of Irish ancestry who said the following:     1.  After devoting most of her column space to a transcript of Ashley Smith's testimony, who wrote thIs? It is an idiot's errand to follow such testimony with commentary. It's too big. There is nothing newspaper-eloquent to say. We have entered Flannery O'Connor country, and only geniuses need apply. Oh, and then she followed such testimony with non-genius commentary, to include this: Is it a matter of happenstance, is it without meaning, that America was taken by this drama at Eastertide, in the days before Palm Sunday, when a wanted man rode by donkey to an appointment at Golgotha? Is it an accident that a great but troubled country that yearns so to be good is given such instruction at this time?   2.  Which Irish-American pundit wrote this in his most recent book: Evil exists. It is real, and it means to harm us. I believe this strongly, and not just because of my Catholic faith, although that's the root of it. When you work in the news business, you deal with the ugly side of life. Of course, you should keep in mind that he helps to make the news business a lot more ugly, so his experiences might not hold true for everyone.     3.  The following passage comes from the book of which commentator (a guy who makes much of his working class background, apparently believing that because he didn't summer in the Hamptons, he must have come from a working class background, even though his parents were college educated, his father was an accountant, and he grew up in the suburbs)? Without us, say good-bye to country music and rap, slasher flicks and Home Shopping Network, the Gap and SUVs, Jerry Springer and Oprah, malls and malt liquor, tattoo parlors and trailer parks, Myrtle Beach and Branson, Missouri, professional wrestling and the National Enquirer. This country hums along economically because of the toil and the tastes of the working class . . . and the big-profit boys will do almost anything to keep it that way. Factor that into the price of your next Happy Meal. Yeah, it's Jerry Springer, Oprah, malt liquor, and McDonald's who are keeping you down, man!  They WANT to keep you poor, stupid, watching Fox News, and buying the products it advertises!   Fight the power! 4.  The following comes from the transcript of which Irish-American journalist's interview yesterday of Douglas Wead (the guy who secretly taped George Bush as he considered running for President?:  [Mystery Guest]:  When your story came out, when you gave this to "The Times" or however you got it to "The Times," all the Arab countries and the Arab people in the world, the street that doesn't like us, think we're heathens and we're whatever you call, the infidels, the president of the United States used drugs?  He's one of the evil ones.  You gave them ammo, the other side, didn't you? WEAD:  No. MG:  What do you mean you didn't? WEAD:  Look, I was wrong.  [...]  MG: But the Arabs out there, the people that don't like us, the terrorist crowd, the anti-American crowd, they're reading your tapes.  You don't think that hurts us?  Yeah, the Arabs now hate Bush, and by extention the United States, because of tapes that indicate that Bush used marijuana.  THAT'S our problem.  So, clearly Wead is a traitor who helped terrorists and worked against our country. Later, our MG asks Dana Milbank if his pants make him look fat. MG: Let me ask you, I was pushing him hard, as you saw, on the international implications of this, to have the president of the United States basically admitting using illegal drugs, for the world to know and be sure of.  Do you think I pushed it too hard?  Isn't it kind of pathethic when news program hosts ask stupid questions, and then turn to reporters for reassurance?     5.  From which journalist's best-selling non-fiction book book (which, it's been reported, will soon have a sequel): As the years went on, especially on Memorial Day, when we went to the local cemetery to plant little American flags on the graves of war veterans, I sometimes asked him about the war. Although I desperately wanted to know what had happened, I was careful not to push too hard. It was clear that he didn’t want to talk about it, and I imagined that I might feel the same way if something that terrible had happened to me. And because his father, a private man, didn't want to talk about his war experiences, our Mystery Guest wrote a book about him.    6.  From a guy who may or may not be Irish, but whose next book I look forward to a lot more than Mystery Guest #5's: Uncle Todd never wanted to talk about the war. I'd ask him all the time to tell me about it, but he wouldn't ever talk about it. So I started leaving little notes all over his house saying, "Talk about the war". Also, I'd call him up late at night and just say, "the war", and hang up. I think he cracked up and had to go away someplace. He should have talked about the war. 7:36:01 PM

'Why Is the Easter Bunny Under Attack?' That was one of the topics on today's "Hannity and Lame Replacement for That Other Guy" show. Here's the promo from the Fox News site: Why is the "Easter bunny" under attack? You won't believe what some malls in Florida have planned less than two weeks before one of biggest day's on the Christian calendar.  But actually, we would believe it because we already discussed it last Saturday.  (To recap the story: three malls in the Palm Beach area are calling their seasonal varmints by names other than the Easter Bunny, so as to get all parents, not just the Christian ones, to bring the tikes to the mall to get some chocolate eggs and then buy a bunch of stuff from Toys 'R Us).  However, we predicted that it would be Bill O'Reilly who would spearhead the "Easter is under attack" call to arms, not Sean Hannity.  So, I guess we aren't as prescient as we thought. We happened to catch most of this segment while channel surfing -- it featured David Silverman of "American Atheists" repeatedly trying to explain that his group really doesn't care all that much about the Easter Bunny appearing in malls, and that they had nothing to do with the fact that the Gardens Mall is calling its rabbit "The Garden Bunny," since it's all about captiolism and free enterprise and stuff.  But Sean would have none of that, and was was frothing at the mouth at the notion that the liberals, the atheists, and the ACLU are depriving innocent Christian children of their sacred Easter Bunnies.  The dopey co-host's contribution was that he "doesn't have enough faith to be an atheist."  I guess that's what happens when your topic is so slight that it can't sustain even 30 seconds worth of discussion.  So, to help Sean (and Bill, if he decides to jump on the bandwagon), here are more instances of attacks on the Easter Bunny. As some of you mentioned, there is the story from last year: Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show.  First, the Passion of the Christ. Now, the torment of the Easter Bunny? It may not have been as gruesome as Mel Gibson's movie, but many parents and children got upset when a church trying to teach about Jesus' crucifixion performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs. Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children. "He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped," Salzmann said. [...] Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke, another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. "It was very disturbing," Norelli-Burke said. "I could not believe what I saw. It wasn't anything I was expecting." I think this story shows just how far the the secular atheistic libreals will go to persecute that symbol of Christianity, the Easter Bunny.   (Just ignore the fact that the group doing the beating was "The Glassport Assembly of God," because it kind of takes us away from the "Faith Under Fire" motif that WorldNetDaily started when they brought the Palm Beach Post story to the attention of people like Michelle Malkin and Hannity. ) And then there's this Fox News report from last year: "Man Assaults Easter Bunny At Mall."  (Why are the malls so anti-bunny?) Travis Peterson, 29, dressed as the Easter Bunny at the Wausau Center Mall, said he was greeting kids Saturday when an apparently drunk man hopped into his lap, wrapped his arm around his neck in a headlock and punched him three times in the mouth. "I was just sitting there in my chair, waving to the kids, and he came up and jumped in my lap and just started hitting my head," the Bunny told the local Wausau Daily Herald. The assailant was apparently drunk and showing off for friends -- or at least, that's what the liberal Fox News would have you believe.  In retrospect, it's obvious that this was part of the liberal/secular Attack on Easter Bunnies, and that the perp was paid by George Soros Or maybe it's wasn't Soros . . .Consider if you will this this 2001 WorldNetDaily story by Jane Chastain entitled "The Easter Bunny Won." Here's part: While China was holding the crew of our crippled EP-3E surveillance plane hostage, the good citizens of this country expressed their outrage. There was widespread talk of a long overdue boycott against Chinese products. As it turns out, it was just talk. Over Easter weekend, I took the time to call the managers of some of this nation's largest toy stores and super markets in strategic areas of the country, and, without exception, they all told me that holiday-week sales of Easter Bunnies were brisk. There was no slow down. In fact, some stores set records on their plush toy sales during this holiday. And many of those plush toys were made in the PRC!!! So, while the Easter Bunny won that round, so too did the ChiComs.  So, maybe the vendetta against the hare is actually being carried out by the John Birch society and other patriotic Americans who want to teach Mr. Leporidae a thing or two about supporting communism. Or maybe the attack on the Easter Bunny is about getting revenge for this: In any case, with more than a week remaining before Easter, don't expect to have heard the last about the War on the Easter Bunny. But to end on a more positive note, we offer you this cheery song from the 1940s (back when the Easter Bunny was a holy icon that all that's good and holy about our nation, and when he was attacked, he attacked back -- with a GUN!):  "Here's the Easter Rabbit (Hooray)" P.S.  I just noticed that Rush Limbaugh also got into the act -- his site features this link to Rush reading and talking about the Palm Beach Post story: Easter Bunny Replaced with PC Bunnies...story |  Rush concludes by saying, "But I bet this is happening all over the country: the banning of the Easter bunny and Easter eggs and this sort of thing."  And if it is, it's undoubtedly the fault of the ACLU, Ward Churchill, and Hillary Clinton. 12:43:39 AM